Resealable container

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a container ( 1 ) comprising a can body ( 2 ) having an open end ( 21 ) and a closed end ( 22 ), an end closure ( 3 ) and a removable cap ( 4 ). The container ( 2 ) have a seal breaking portion ( 8 ). The end closure ( 3 ) is attached to the open end ( 21 ) of the can body ( 2 ) to form a closed compartment  5  of the container ( 1 ). The end closure ( 3 ) has an opening duct ( 6 ) extending towards the compartment ( 5 ) and having a seal ( 7 ). The cap ( 4 ) is arranged in said opening duct ( 6 ) and is movable to a position in which the seal breaking portion ( 8 ) is brought into engagement with said seal ( 7 ) for opening of the container ( 1 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a container comprising a can body having an open end and a closed end, an end closure and a removable cap. The container have a seal breaking portion. The end closure is attached to the open end of the can body to form a closed compartment of the container. The end closure has an opening duct extending towards the compartment and having a seal. The cap is arranged in said opening duct and is movable to a position in which the seal breaking portion is brought into engagement with said seal for opening of the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conventional container for use as e.g. a beverage container may contain various beverages like water, soft drinks, beer etc. The conventional beverage container, such as an aluminium can, often comprises a tab which is actuated to form an opening in a frangible portion. Once the frangible portion is opened the content of the container is exposed to air and the content may also by accident be spilled out with a lot of discomfort for the user of the container and the surroundings. Especially for food safety reasons, conventional containers are to be provided with different tamperproof and seal arrangements to guarantee the freshness of an unopened container.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,843 shows a bottle-shaped metal can with a can body, can bottom and a threaded neck portion for receiving a threaded closure to seal the contents in the container. This bottle-shaped can will have the problems associated with the bottle-shape concerning the ability to stack cans for efficient transportation and storage.

International patent application WO9609968 discloses a can with a twist-on/twist-off resealable assembly for a can-end. The assembly is also provided with a tamper/pilferproof arrangement. WO9609968 does not show any guaranteed seals or the like.

There are also known tamperproof arrangements from document EP1533240. The arrangements according to EP1533240 discloses a reclosable opening device including a tubular frame, a pierceable portion and cutting means. EP1533240 provides very complicated and expensive arrangements as the arrangements contain many parts which have to be assembled at manufacturing.

Although the above mentioned publications refer to containers, which are resealable, there is still a need for an improved container which may be resealed and which has a guarantee seal and which is easy to handle during transportation and selling and which is easy to handle for the end user of the container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a resealable container which may be used in conventional production routes.

The above object is achieved in accordance with the present invention with a container comprising a can body having an open end and a closed end, an end closure and a removable cap. The cap have a seal breaking portion. The end closure is attached to the open end of the can body to form a closed compartment of the container. The end closure has an opening duct extending towards the compartment and having a seal. The cap is arranged in said opening duct such that the cap is contained within the boundaries formed by the can body and the end closure attached thereto and is movable to a position in which the seal breaking portion is brought into engagement with said seal for opening of the container.

The removable cap, which is arranged in the end closure and the can body, will not protrude outside the boundaries of the container and will allow easy handling of the container according to the invention. One advantage with the container according to the invention is that conventional production plants for beverage cans may be used for the production of the inventive container. Another advantage is that containers according to the present invention may be stacked onto each other, which will increase the space which can be filled with containers during transportation and storage.

The seal breaking portion of the container is integrated in the removable cap and will be easy to manufacture and easy to handle by the end user. As the integrated seal breaking portion is simple, there are also environmental advantages with less waste of material and energy during the manufacturing.

The opening duct which extends towards the compartment will make the container very easy to stack compared to a convention bottle having a necked portion with a screw cap or the like. The end closure on the container according to the invention will have a flat appearance similar to the bottom portion of the container, and therefore the ability to stack and handle the container are improved compared to conventional bottles.

The seal on the container is breakable upon movement of the cap such that the seal breaking portion is brought to engagement with said seal. This will give the advantage to the container according to the invention that a guarantee seal is obtained during the manufacturing of the container, as the seal is part of the end closure. The manufacturing is also made in an easier way with less production steps.

The cap which is inserted in the opening duct and is movable to a position in which the seal breaking portion is brought into engagement with the seal. By breaking the seal by means of the cap and the seal breaking portion, there is provided access to the beverage in the container after removing the cap from the opening duct. The opening of the container is easy and the user may drink the content in an easy and pleasant way. The cap may then be installed in the opening duct to offer the user easier handling of the container, without spillage.

Preferred embodiments follow from the dependent claims.

The container defined by the can body, end closure and cap is preferably made of aluminium. By using aluminium, a light-weight container is obtained and the particular advantages of the present invention are fulfilled.

The can body of the container is preferably cylindrical, which shape is beneficial for drawing of the material of the can body. Other shapes are also possible.

By arranging the seal in an end of said opening duct facing the compartment the advantage of utilizing the benefit of manufacturing the end closure and the opening duct in one piece is obtained.

The seal is in a preferred embodiment formed integrated with the opening duct and may have a frangible portion in the seal. This frangible portion will make it easier and with less effort for the end user to open the container with the cap.

An annular portion at the end of the opening duct may enclose the frangible portion. The annular portion may be arranged to cooperate with a chamfered portion on the cap when the cap has been moved to an end position. A benefit with the arrangement of the chamfered portion of the cap and the annular portion of the opening duct is that the container may be resealed and the sealing is obtained by contact between the annular portion and the chamfered portion.

The seal breaking portion is in one embodiment arranged for point engagements on the seal. Thus, the forces needed for breaking the seal will be less than if the cap would engage the whole surface of the seal.

The means for actuating the cap may be in the form of a tab which is movable between a first position in which the tab is arranged parallel to the end closure and a second position in which the tab is arranged perpendicular to said end closure. A benefit for this arrangement is that the tab is easy accessible for the user and with small effort the container may be opened. Actuation of the cap means that the cap is turned in a first direction to break a seal and turned in a second direction to remove the cap from the container.

The cap may be provided with duct engaging means engaging corresponding cap engaging means of the opening duct. By the engaging means the cap is kept in place before breaking the seal and after the seal has been broken.

External threads on the cap may be arranged to be engaged with internal threads in the opening duct. The threads provide the possibility of obtaining a downward movement giving the person opening the container enough force to break the seal.

Annular ribs may be arranged on the cap and on the opening duct. Such arrangement will give a stable snap lock function holding the cap in place.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will in the following be described by way of example with reference to the appended schematic drawings which show presently preferred embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a complete container with can body and removable cap.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded perspective view showing can body, end closure and removable cap.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the container with the cap removed, wherein the seal can be seen.

FIG. 4 illustrates cross section of the container according to the invention with the seal not broken.

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the cap.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIGS. 1 to 5, to which reference now is made, one embodiment of a container 1 according to the invention and parts thereof is disclosed.

The container 1 has a can body 2, an end closure 3 and a removable cap 4. The can body 2 and the end closure 3 are attached to each other to form a closed compartment 5, for storage of a liquid product such as a beverage. The can body 2 and the end closure 3 attached to the can body 2 forms a can.

The can body, the end closure and the cap may be manufactured from sheet or web-shaped material of e.g. aluminium, steel or plastic.

The can body 2 and the end closure 3 may be separate pieces and may be manufactured from the same or different materials, such as aluminium and plastic or other possible combinations.

Now referring also to FIG. 2, the end closure 3 has an opening duct 6 which extends towards the compartment 5. More specifically, the opening duct 6 has an extension directed towards the compartment 5 and no extension directed from the compartment 5. The opening duct 6 is provided with a seal 7, which is shown more clearly in FIG. 4. The cap 4 is arranged in the opening duct 6 and may be moved to a position in which a seal breaking portion 8 is brought in engagement with the seal 7 for opening of the container 8.

The can body 2 have an open end 21 and an closed end 22. The cross section of the can body 2 may be cylindrical or rectangular. In one embodiment the cross section is square. The shape of the can body may be obtained by metal forming, such as drawing from aluminium, steel or similar. The can body 4 may be of the conventional type used in the beverage industry.

The end closure 3 in FIG. 2 is attached to the open end 21 of the can body 2 to form a compartment 5 (see FIG. 3). The opening duct 6 is formed integrated with the end closure 3 and extends into the compartment 5. The seal 7 is formed integrated with the opening duct 6 and is arranged at the end of the opening duct 6 facing the compartment 5.

A frangible portion 10 is provided to allow opening of the container 1. The frangible portion 10 is arranged in said end of the opening duct 6 facing the compartment 5 and defines the seal 7. The frangible portion 10 may be obtained by an embossing process.

Said end further comprises an annular portion 11 enclosing the frangible portion 10.

The end closure 3 may be manufactured by aluminium, steel or plastic. The end closure may be obtained by metal forming. The shape is adapted to fit to the can body 2.

The opening duct 6 is provided with cap engaging means 9 for engaging corresponding duct engaging means 42 on the cap 4. The cap engaging means may be in the form of internal threads and the duct engaging means may be in the form of external threads. In the shown embodiment the external threads are provided intermittently on the cap 4.

The cap 4 according to FIG. 5 constitutes a thin-walled structure adapted to be inserted in the opening duct 6 of the end closure 3. When the cap 4 is inserted in the opening duct 6, the cap 4 is contained within the boundaries of the can, i.e. within the boundaries formed by the can body 2 and the end closure 3 being attached to the can body 2. Thereby, no part of the cap 4 protrudes outside the boundaries of the can, thus allowing containers to be stack onto each other.

The cap 4 comprises a cylindrical portion 45, an upper annular flange portion 46 (shown more clearly in FIG. 2) and a lower end portion 47 closing the lower end of the cylindrical portion 45.

The duct engaging means 42 is provided on the cylindrical portion.

The lower end portion 47 of the cap 4 is arranged such that a seal breaking portion 8 is formed adapted for point engagement, which will be explained in more detail below.

In the shown embodiment a chamfered portion 44 is provided on the cylindrical portion 45 adjacent to the lower end portion 47.

According to FIG. 5 the cap 4 is provided with means for actuating the cap 4 which forms part of the upper annular flange portion 46. More specifically the means for actuating the cap 4 is in the form of a tab 41. The tab 41 is movable between a first position (shown in FIG. 2) in which it is arranged parallel to the principal plane of the end closure 3 and a second position (shown in FIG. 5) in which the tab is arranged perpendicular to the end closure 3.

The tab 41 will work as a handle for the user when actuating the cap 4 for breaking the seal 7, opening the container 1 and resealing the container 1.

The can body 2 and the end closure 3 may be attached to each other by e.g. a folding operation such is conventional in the beverage industry.

A major advantage which is obtained is that the end closure according to the invention and conventional end closures may be used alternatingly in the same production equipment in order to produce inventive containers and conventional containers, respectively.

In order to open the inventive container 1 for the first time, the tab 41 is moved to its second position whereupon the cap 4 is rotated by means of the tab 41 in first rotational direction for movement of the cap 4 towards the compartment 5. Hereby, the seal breaking portion 8 of the cap 4 is brought into engagement with the seal 7. More specifically, the seal breaking portion 8 will make point engagement with the seal 7 causing it to be broken along the frangible portion 10 during the rotational movement of the seal breaking portion 8. The seal 7 will thus be pushed into the compartment 5. A bridge portion may be arranged to prevent the seal from being completely released from the opening duct 6 of the end closure 3.

Thereafter the cap 4 is rotated in a second rotational direction. Hereby the cap 4 will be moved away from the compartment 5 until it may be removed from the opening duct 6. The content of the container is now accessible for consumption.

To reseal the container 1 the cap 4 is once again inserted in the opening duct and rotated in said first rotational direction for movement to an end position.

In said end position the chamfered portion 44 is brought to sealing engagement with the annular portion 11 of the opening duct, thereby providing a good and reliable resealability of the container.

It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment and that other modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.

For example the container may be provided with engaging means in the form of a snap lock. Thus, circumferential protrusions may be arranged in the opening duct and on the cylindrical portion of the cap. In the case annular protrusions form a snap lock, the seal is broken by pushing the cap and the seal breaking portion towards the seal for breaking the seal.

Further, the seal breaking portion of the cap may be arranged for point engagement in one or more points. The lower end of the cap may e.g. be wave shaped, each wave tip forming a part of the seal breaking portion. 

1. Container comprising a can body having an open end and a closed end, an end closure and a removable cap having a seal breaking portion, wherein the end closure being attached to the open end of the can body to form a closed compartment of the container and the end closure having an opening duct extending towards the compartment and having a seal, wherein the cap being arranged in said opening duct such that the cap is contained within the boundaries formed by the can body and the end closure attached thereto and being movable to a position in which the seal breaking portion is brought into engagement with said seal for opening of the container.
 2. Container according to claim 1, wherein at least one of can body, end closure and cap is made of aluminium.
 3. Container according to claim 1, wherein the can body is cylindrical.
 4. Container according to claim 1, wherein the seal being arranged in an end of said opening duct facing the compartment.
 5. Container according to claim 1, wherein the seal being formed integrated with said opening duct, the opening duct having a frangible portion defining said seal.
 6. Container according to claim 5, wherein the end of the opening duct comprises an annular portion enclosing said frangible portion, the annular portion being arranged for cooperation with a chamfered portion on the cap when the cap has been moved to an end position.
 7. Container according to claim 1, wherein the seal breaking portion being arranged for point engagement.
 8. Container according to claim 1, wherein the cap is provided with means for actuating the cap.
 9. Container according to claim 1, wherein the means for actuating the cap in the form of a tab which is movable between a first position in which the tab is arranged parallel to the end closure and a second position in which the tab is arranged perpendicular to said end closure.
 10. Container according to claim 1, wherein the cap is provided with duct engaging means engaging corresponding cap engaging means of the opening duct.
 11. Container according to claim 10, wherein the cap is provided with external threads arranged to be engaged with internal threads arranged in the opening duct.
 12. Container according to claim 10, further comprising annular ribs arranged on the cap and on the opening duct. 